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News Releases related to WV en-usOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing Web Group)http://usgs.govhttp://www.usgs.gov/images/header_graphic_usgsIdentifier_white.jpgUSGSusgs/newsWVhttps://feedburner.google.comPREcosystemsTerrestrialFreshwaterandMarineEnvironments
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GeographicAreasNortheasthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/2bHNJZ6fnHU/article.asp
stateDEstateMDstatePAstateVAstateWVstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->The world's largest breeding population of ospreys is coping well with the long-lasting residues of toxic chemicals that were banned decades ago but remain in the Chesapeake Bay food chain at varying levels, such as the pesticide DDT and insulating chemicals known as PCBs
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Up to 10,000 pairs are nesting now in Chesapeake Bay,</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:brattner@usgs.gov">Barnett &nbsp;Rattner</a>
( Phone: 301-497-5671
);
<a href="mailto:hdewar@usgs.gov">Heather&nbsp;Dewar</a>
( Phone: 443-498-5584
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><!--introstart-->The world's largest breeding population of ospreys is coping well with the long-lasting residues of toxic chemicals that were banned decades ago but remain in the Chesapeake Bay food chain at varying levels, such as the pesticide DDT and insulating chemicals known as PCBs.<!--introend--> The resilient fish hawks are also showing few effects from two other groups of chemicals that have become widespread in the estuary&mdash;flame retardant PBDEs and pharmaceuticals intended for human use. Those are key findings of a three-year study led by US Geological Survey scientists, which follows up on a wide-ranging USGS survey conducted in 2001 of persistent chemical pollutants in the fish and fish hawks of the Chesapeake Bay, the United States' biggest estuary.</p>
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<td><a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2016_ine5HtsGFB_03_25_2016_1"><img src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/03_25_2016/ine5HtsGFB_03_25_2016/large/osprey_chicks.jpg" alt="Osprey chicks in a nest" width="750" height="586" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>These osprey chicks in a nest on the James River in Virginia are just a few days old. Nestlings in industrial areas carry traces of toxic chemicals in their blood plasma, but osprey parents successfully raised chicks at almost all sites, says USGS scientist Rebecca Lazarus, lead author of 3 research papers on the ospreys' Chesapeake Bay food chain. Photo credit:&nbsp;<span>Rebecca Lazarus, USGS.</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The researchers tested fish, osprey eggs and the blood plasma of osprey chicks in the Chesapeake Bay's tidal waters. In the ospreys' eggs they found high levels of PCBs at some locations. They also found residues of DDT and a related compound, p,p'-DDE, but at levels much lower than the ones that caused osprey and bald eagle population declines in the late 20<sup>th</sup> century. Both PCBs and DDT were banned in the 1970s. Further, the researchers found that young ospreys are being exposed to PBDEs, which are considered potentially toxic to wildlife. Yet these residues had no discernible effect on the big raptors' success in the Chesapeake region, where as many as 10,000 breeding pairs are expected to nest this season.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"Osprey populations are thriving almost everywhere in the Chesapeake," said Rebecca Lazarus, a researcher at the USGS' Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and the lead author of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/etc.3386/abstract">a report on the study's latest findings</a>,&nbsp;published April 1 in <em>Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry</em>. "We found them nesting in some of the most highly contaminated areas in the Bay and we did not find any relationship between contaminants and their nests' productivity."</p>
<p>The scientists found one cautionary sign: the osprey nestlings' blood carried low levels of a biological marker for genetic damage. Levels of the marker were highest in one of the bay's most polluted areas, near Baltimore's Back River wastewater treatment plant, and osprey nests near that plant did poorly at raising chicks to adulthood. Baywide, the damage is not enough to affect the birds' overall ability to reproduce, but it may be having subtle, undetected effects, and warrants more research, Lazarus said.</p>
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<td><a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2016_ine5HtsGFB_03_25_2016_3"><img src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/03_25_2016/ine5HtsGFB_03_25_2016/large/RLazarus_at_osprey_nest_2.jpg" alt="Scientists handling osprey" width="750" height="630" /></a></td>
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<tr>
<td>
<p>USGS researcher Rebecca Lazarus prepares to take a blood sample from an osprey fledgling in a nest on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, Delaware Bay in 2015. Lazarus and colleagues did similar sampling of 48 chicks on Chesapeake Bay in 2011-2013. All the Chesapeake Bay nestlings' blood plasma had traces of a human medication to fight hypertension, diltiazem, and biomarkers of low-grade genetic damage, with no discernible effects on the ospreys' reproductive success. Photo credit: USGS.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ospreys have just returned from winter homes in South America to Chesapeake Bay, the estuary one writer called "the osprey garden of the world." The bay's shallow waters and abundant fish attract roughly one-quarter of the Lower 48 States&rsquo; ospreys. The fish hawks usually return to the nests they used the year before. In March the males in each of the Bay's breeding pairs began gathering sticks to mend their nests. By mid-April most females will be brooding two or three eggs.</p>
<p>These charismatic fish hawks are one of the world's most widely distributed birds, found on every continent but Antarctica, and one of its most distinctive, with golden eyes, six-foot wingspans, and barbed talons adapted to hold wet, wriggling fish. Their global range, all-fish diet, and their role as a top predator make them ideal subjects for studies of water pollutants' paths through the aquatic food chain. The USGS research is the one of the world's most comprehensive studies of ospreys' exposure to toxic chemicals; a similar study on Pacific Northwest ospreys was published in 2008.</p>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s scientists found the pesticide DDT was biomagnifying, becoming concentrated in ospreys and other fish-eating birds and causing females to lay eggs so fragile that they cracked under the parents' weight. The bay's osprey population fell to fewer than 1,500 pairs before DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972. In 1979 Congress also banned PCBs, which can cause reproductive failure in animals. PBDEs, which were introduced as replacements for PCBs, are being phased out because of concerns about potential toxicity.</p>
<p>The EPA classifies more than 70 percent of Chesapeake Bay tidal waters as impaired by toxic chemicals. To track these toxics and their effects on bay ospreys, Lazarus and her colleagues collected fish, osprey eggs, and blood samples from 48 osprey chicks along Chesapeake Bay tributaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Working during the spring and summer nesting season from 2011 through 2013, they included several sites the EPA considers pollution "regions of concern" &nbsp;&ndash; Baltimore's Harbor and Patapsco River; Washington, DC's Anacostia and Potomac rivers; and the Elizabeth River at Hampton Roads, Virginia.</p>
<p>In the first set of study findings, published in 2015 in the journal <em>Environmental Pollution</em>, the researchers found that in these heavily industrial, urban regions of concern, levels of the DDT breakdown byproduct were 80% lower than in the 2001 study, but PCB levels barely declined at all. Osprey eggs from developed areas had PCB levels three to four times higher than at nests on an island in the open bay.</p>
<p>"In fact the levels of PCBs have not changed significantly in the past 35 years, which tells you how persistent these chemicals are," said USGS ecotoxicologist Barnett Rattner, an expert on toxics in bay ospreys who led the 2000-2001 study and worked with Lazarus on the latest research. "Yet the birds are doing well. They're exposed to these toxic chemicals, which are biomagnified up the food chain, yet fortunately we do not see any really serious effects in ospreys."</p>
<p>In the next phase of the work, the researchers reported finding numerous human medications in Chesapeake Bay water samples, but only one in osprey chicks. Pharmaceutical compounds pass through humans' waste into wastewater treatment plants and septic systems, which discharge them into waterways. The scientists looked for 23 pharmaceutical compounds and an artificial sweetener and found 18 of them in bay waters and seven in fish. The drug diltiazem, used to treat hypertension in people, was found in all 48 chicks' blood samples, though at levels below those known to cause adverse effects in wildlife.</p>
<p>"Some of these chemicals are in the wastewater stream, but they do not seem to be biomagnifying in ospreys," Rattner said. Those results were published in 2015 in the journal <em>Integrated Environmental Assessment and Managemen</em>t.</p>
<p>For more information on USGS science being used to help restore the Chesapeake Bay, visit <a href="http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/">http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/</a></p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/2bHNJZ6fnHU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 4 Apr 2016 9:44:42 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4502&from=rssPRdata EPA challenges CitizenScience innovation water ESRI
contests ChesepeakeBay GreatLakeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/5PwUDm7MnDI/article.asp
stateDEstateDCstateILstateINstateMDstateMIstateMNstateNYstateOHstatePAstateVAstateWVstateWI<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> Today, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announce Visualize Your Water, a citizen science challenge for high school students who live in the Great Lakes basin and Chesapeake Bay watershed. This open competition in innovation, supported by a coalition of government agencies and private industry, aims to equip high school students with new skills in geographic analysis and help to broaden their understanding of nutrient management and pollution issues.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:nlbooth@usgs.gov">Nate&nbsp;Booth, USGS</a>
( Phone: 703-648-5014
);
<a href="mailto:shaw.denice@epa.gov">Denice&nbsp;Shaw, EPA</a>
( Phone: 202-564-1108
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p><img style="margin: 5px; float: right;" src="http://www.usgs.gov/images/logos/EPAVisWater.png" alt="Visualize Your Water (credit: EPA)" width="200" height="195" />Today, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announce <a href="http://www.challenge.gov/challenge/visualize-your-water/">Visualize Your Water</a>, a citizen science challenge for high school students who live in the Great Lakes basin and Chesapeake Bay watershed. This open competition in innovation, supported by a coalition of government agencies and private industry, aims to equip high school students with new skills in geographic analysis and help to broaden their understanding of nutrient management and pollution issues.</p>
<p>Plant nutrients can be valuable in agricultural and urban settings, but too much nutrient or too much at the wrong place or time will produce algal blooms, hypoxia, and other nutrient-related water quality issues that are particularly acute in the Great Lakes basin and Chesapeake Bay watershed. Nutrient pollution is the general term for high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in some of the nation&rsquo;s waters. Nutrient pollution comes from sources such as urban and agricultural fertilizer runoff, municipal sewage treatment and leaking septic tanks, and even atmospheric deposition from factory and car nitrogen oxide emissions, with the relative balance of sources depending on location.</p>
<p>In this educational competition, students will use digital mapping technology from <a href="http://www.esri.com/about-esri/vision">Esri</a> (a leading geographic technology company) with data from the USGS, EPA, and other sources to analyze local water quality. They will then create a map that tells a story about the problem and suggests viable solutions.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Today, January 13, marks the start of the competition. Contest submissions are due March 1. Winners will be announced on April 22. A free&nbsp;<a href="http://arcg.is/1S4P3H0">Esri ArcGIS Online</a>&nbsp;school account is available to allow participating students to view and analyze relevant data and create maps.&nbsp;</p>
<p>A grand prize of<strong>&nbsp;</strong>$2,500 will be awarded plus an opportunity to attend the 2016 Esri Education Conference in San Diego, California along with publication in Esri&rsquo;s&nbsp;<em>Mapping the Nation</em>&nbsp;book. In addition, two regional first place prizes of $2,500 will be awarded for the Great Lakes basin and Chesapeake Bay watershed. National Geographic will recognize one visualization that will be promoted on National Geographic&rsquo;s education website, and the author will receive a copy of the National Geographic&nbsp;<em>Atlas of the World</em>.</p>
<p>U.S. high school students in the following states are eligible to participate.</p>
<ul>
<li>Great Lakes basin: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin &nbsp;</li>
<li>Chesapeake Bay watershed: Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia</li>
</ul>
<p>For further challenge details, visit the <a href="http://www.challenge.gov/challenge/visualize-your-water/">Visualize Your Water website</a>.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/5PwUDm7MnDI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 13 Jan 2016 10:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4433&from=rssTARemoteSensing remote sensing satellite geospatial GIS handbook geography geographic resources disasters datahttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/6CKgiaC3iuM/article.asp
stateALstateAKstateAZstateARstateASstateCAstateCOstateMPstateCTstateDEstateDCstateFLstateFSstateGAstateGUstateHIstateIDstateILstateINstateIAstateKSstateKYstateLAstateMEstateMDstateMAstateMIstateMNstateMSstateMOstateMTstateNEstateNVstateNHstateNJstateNMstateNYstateNCstateNDstateOHstateOKstateORstatePAstatePRstateRIstateRMstateRPstateSCstateSDstateTNstateTXstateUTstateVTstateVIstateVAstateWAstateWVstateWIstateWYstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->A newly published, three-volume &ldquo;Remote Sensing Handbook&rdquo; is a comprehensive coverage of all remote sensing topics written by over 300 leading global experts.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:pthenkabail@usgs.gov">Prasad&nbsp;Thenkabail</a>
( Phone: 928-556-7221
);
<a href="mailto:lgordon@usgs.gov">Leslie &nbsp;Gordon</a>
( Phone: 650-329-4006
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p><!--introstart-->A newly published, three-volume &ldquo;<a href="https://www.crcpress.com/Remote-Sensing-Handbook---Three-Volume-Set/Thenkabail/9781482218015">Remote Sensing Handbook</a>&rdquo; is a comprehensive coverage of all remote sensing topics written by over 300 leading global experts. <!--introend--> With 82 chapters, and more than 2000 pages, the handbook is a reference for every remote sensing student, professor, scientist, professional practitioner and expert. The technical handbook includes up-to-date examples of successful projects and case studies, and explains in detail, state-of-the-art space-borne, air-borne and ground-based remote-sensing systems.</p>
<p>The &ldquo;Remote Sensing Handbook&rdquo; was edited by Dr. Prasad S. Thenkabail of the U.S. Geological Survey. Thenkabail, an international expert in remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems, described the handbook as, &ldquo;a complete knowledge base about the evolution and history of remote-sensing science over last 50 years, the current state-of-the-art of its science and technology, and a future vision for the field.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Volume one of the Remote Sensing Handbook, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.crcpress.com/Remotely-Sensed-Data-Characterization-Classification-and-Accuracies/PhD/9781482217865">Remotely Sensed Data Characterization, Classification, and Accuracies</a>&rdquo; describes the utility, methods and models used in analyzing a wide array of remotely-sensed data from a wide array of space-borne to ground-based platforms, and discusses various applications in depth. Leading experts on global geographic coverage, study areas, and various satellites and sensors contributed to this handbook.</p>
<p>Volume two of the Handbook, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.crcpress.com/Land-Resources-Monitoring-Modeling-and-Mapping-with-Remote-Sensing/PhD/9781482217957">Land Resources Monitoring, Modeling, and Mapping with Remote Sensing</a>&rdquo; provides a comprehensive theoretical and practical coverage of remote sensing applied to land resources, including vegetation and biomass, croplands, rangelands, phenology and food security, forests, biodiversity, ecology, habitats, land use/land cover, carbon, and soils.</p>
<p>Volume three, &ldquo;<a href="https://www.crcpress.com/Remote-Sensing-of-Water-Resources-Disasters-and-Urban-Studies/PhD/9781482217919">Remote Sensing of Water Resources, Disasters, and Urban Studies</a>&rdquo; is an extensive and comprehensive coverage of myriad topics pertaining to water resources, disasters, and urban areas such as hydrology, water resources, water use, water productivity, floods, wetlands, snow and ice, nightlights, geomorphology, droughts and drylands, disasters, volcanoes, fire, and smart cities.</p>
<p>The three-volume <a href="https://www.crcpress.com/Remote-Sensing-Handbook/book-series/CRCREMSENHAN">Remote Sensing Handbook</a> is available from the publisher or your local bookseller.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/6CKgiaC3iuM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 1 Dec 2015 12:20:51 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4401&from=rssPRClimateandLandUseChange GeographicAreasNortheast Ecosystemshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/GcwCJYzeJG0/article.asp
stateCTstateDEstateILstateINstateIAstateKYstateMEstateMDstateMAstateMIstateMNstateMOstateNHstateNJstateNYstateOHstatePAstateRIstateVTstateVAstateWVstateWI<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->Interior Department&rsquo;s Northeast Climate Science Center has released a report today synthesizing the latest information on the vulnerability of species and ecosystems to climate change in a 22-state region in the Northeast and Midwest U.S
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:mstaudinger@usgs.gov">Michelle&nbsp;Staudinger</a>
( Phone: 413-577-1318
);
<a href="mailto:jlathrop@admin.umass.edu">Janet&nbsp;Lathrop</a>
( Phone: 413-545-0444
);
<a href="mailto:hhamilton@usgs.gov">Hannah&nbsp;Hamilton</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4356
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p>AMHERST, MASS&mdash;<!--introstart-->Interior Department&rsquo;s Northeast Climate Science Center has released a report today synthesizing the latest information on the vulnerability of species and ecosystems to climate change in a 22-state region in the Northeast and Midwest U.S.<!--introend-->&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>State fish and wildlife agencies in these regions will use the report to help them update their 10-year conservation plans to help hundreds of animal species and their habitats adapt to climate change.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This useful report comes on the two-year anniversary of the President Obama&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan">Climate Action Plan</a>, which calls not only for reducing carbon pollution, but also for being prepared to avoid or alleviate the predicted impacts of climate change,&rdquo; noted Suzette Kimball, acting director of the United States Geological Survey, which manages Interior&rsquo;s eight climate science centers. &ldquo;The Department of the Interior and its partners will use this information to protect many of America&rsquo;s most iconic species ranging from whales and moose to tiny birds such as sparrows and warblers, as well as freshwater aquatic species including herring, brook trout, and mussels.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Species of greatest conservation need identified in the report include moose, brook trout, American shad, Atlantic sturgeon, spruce grouse, piping plover, freshwater mussels and hundreds of other animal species and their habitats.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This report will assist state natural resource managers in developing science-based conservation and adaptation actions that can help offset adverse effects of climate change on their state&rsquo;s most climate-vulnerable species and ecosystems,&rdquo; said Michelle Staudinger, lead author and USGS ecologist at the Northeast CSC, which is based at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Northeast CSC region stretches from Maine to Minnesota, Missouri and &nbsp;Maryland. The center is one of eight regional climate science centers established during the Obama Administration.&nbsp; The mission of the Interior climate science centers, which are managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, is to guide policy makers and managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural areas&nbsp;about how&nbsp;to help species, ecosystems and human communities adapt to climate change.</p>
<p>The report, <em>Integrating Climate Change into Northeast and Midwest State Wildlife Action Plans</em>, is a tool to assist in the revision of 10-year state plans due in October 2015. State coordinators have been challenged to incorporate climate change impacts and species responses into their current revisions.</p>
<p>&ldquo;To the best of our knowledge, this is the first regional synthesis of impacts on and responses by fish and wildlife to climate change,&rdquo; said Staudinger. &ldquo;The content of the report was developed through a stakeholder-driven process in which we specifically asked the states what they needed to know to inform their action plans, and then researched and delivered it.&rdquo;</p>
<p>John O&rsquo;Leary, assistant director of wildlife with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and member of the Interior Department&rsquo;s advisory committee on climate change adaptation science, says the new report will be extremely valuable to state planners. &ldquo;Including climate change in our action plans is critical,&rdquo; O&rsquo;Leary said. &ldquo;With this report, the Northeast Climate Science Center provides us with the science, and we are the ones who will put it into action. We at the state level are trying to save many of our common species from facing really difficult problems in the future.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Natural resource managers in the northeastern and midwestern United States are faced with enormously complex challenges in dealing with the effects of climate change on habitats, species and ecosystems,&rdquo; said Mary Ratnaswamy, director of the Northeast CSC.&nbsp; &ldquo;This report is designed to provide managers and policy makers with the science they need to sustain their state&rsquo;s natural heritage.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The report details how the Northeast and Midwest Regions of the United States &ldquo;are vulnerable to a range of climate threats including extreme temperatures, heavy precipitation, sea level rise, and warming lake waters in the Great Lakes.&rdquo;&nbsp; It notes that, &ldquo;These changes are likely to cause widespread ecosystem disruption in the region &hellip; resulting in adverse effects on wildlife.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The in-depth document includes maps, charts and synthesis tables; and provides summaries of climate change assessments and projections for more than 30 climate factors such as air temperature, precipitation, soil moisture and sea level rise. It also has a regional overview of existing climate change vulnerability assessments, plus information on species and habitats at greatest risk to climate impacts. It offers short- and long-term adaptation strategies and actions available to natural resource agencies for conserving wildlife and ecosystems.</p>
<p>Report authors Staudinger and Toni Lyn Morelli are both USGS ecologists at the Northeast CSC, as well as adjunct faculty in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.&nbsp; Author Alexander Bryan is a postdoctoral fellow with the USGS and the Northeast CSC. The authors collaborated with a range of partners including the environmental firm Terwilliger Consulting, the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives, the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science and the Wildlife Conservation Society, as well as received input from State Wildlife Action Plan coordinators, the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the Midwest Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.</p>
<p>The Northeast CSC conducts climate change science for Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri.&nbsp;&nbsp;More: <a href="http://necsc.umass.edu/projects/integrating-climate-change-state-wildlife-action-plans">http://necsc.umass.edu/projects/integrating-climate-change-state-wildlife-action-plans</a></p>
<p>The Northeast CSC is supported by a consortium of partners that includes the University of Massachusetts Amherst, College of Menominee Nation, Columbia University, Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri Columbia, and University of Wisconsin. The NE CSC also engages and collaborates with a diversity of other federal, state, academic, tribal, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to conduct collaborative, stakeholder-driven, and climate-focused work to help species, ecosystems and human communities adapt to climate change.</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=GcwCJYzeJG0:97gaqxWUZ78:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=GcwCJYzeJG0:97gaqxWUZ78:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=GcwCJYzeJG0:97gaqxWUZ78:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?i=GcwCJYzeJG0:97gaqxWUZ78:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/GcwCJYzeJG0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 29 Jun 2015 9:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4259&from=rssPREcosystems songbirds GeographicAreasNortheast EcosystemsTerrestrialFreshwaterandMarineEnvironmentshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/GBvFh14kcqI/article.asp
stateKYstateWV<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->Mountaintop mining is reducing the number of forest-dependent songbirds in areas adjacent to reclaimed mining sites while increasing the number of shrubland-dependent birds, according to a recent study in&nbsp;Landscape Ecology
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Study Looks at Forests Adjacent to Reclaimed Mining Sites</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:pbwood@usgs.gov">Petra&nbsp;Wood</a>
( Phone: 304-293-5090
);
<a href="mailto:dbecker@kutztown.edu">Douglas &nbsp;Becker </a>
( Phone: 610-683-4312
);
<a href="mailto:hhamilton@usgs.gov">Hannah&nbsp;Hamilton</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4356
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">MORGANTOWN, W.Va<strong>.</strong>&nbsp;-- <!--introstart-->Mountaintop mining is reducing the number of forest-dependent songbirds in areas adjacent to reclaimed mining sites while increasing the number of shrubland-dependent birds, according to a recent study in&nbsp;<em>Landscape Ecology</em>.<!--introend-->&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Researchers conducted breeding bird surveys within forests adjacent to mined lands during 2012-2013, and also obtained additional survey data that used comparable methods during 2008-2013.&nbsp; They identified and counted birds, then identified the level of forest loss at which specific species increased or decreased in abundance. Knowing what level of forest loss results in changes to specific populations may help resource managers in the future as they manage endangered or threatened species, or species of concern.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">&ldquo;The landscapes that result after mines are reclaimed are primarily grassland, intermixed with small patches of shrubland and forest instead of extensive tracts of mature forests typical of the Appalachian Region, and this significantly changes the bird community,&rdquo; said Petra Wood, a U.S. Geological Survey research wildlife biologist and coauthor of the study. &ldquo;The composition of the bird community within the remaining forests changes with declines in some forest birds and increases in some shrubland birds.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The study evaluated the bird communities in the forest that remains around the reclaimed habitats in West Virginia and Kentucky. Researchers found that even small amounts of forest lost to mineland or grassland within a landscape resulted&nbsp;in lower abundance for the majority of bird species in the forest that remained adjacent to the reclaimed lands.&nbsp;&nbsp;Declines in abundance were detected for 12 species of forest interior birds and 11 species of interior edge birds including species of conservation concern such as Cerulean Warbler and Worm-eating Warbler.&nbsp; But the numbers of some species did go up.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">&ldquo;Some shrubland species, for example the brown thrasher and song sparrow, or forest generalist species such as the brown-headed cowbird and the yellow-throated vireo, did have a positive response to the loss of forest and the gain in mineland or grassland, but most bird species did not,&rdquo; said Doug Becker, professor of biology at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania and senior author of the study.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;If managers want to take actions that may benefit sensitive, forest-dependent species, they need to minimize the amount of forest lost in a landscape.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Other studies have documented a loss of forest dependent bird species from reclaimed shrublands and grasslands, which is a response to outright forest loss.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">&ldquo;Reclaimed lands have very slow succession and rarely develop into native shrublands, let alone mature forest,&rdquo; said Wood.&nbsp;&ldquo;There is an effort being made to reclaim mines to forestland through the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, but only a small fraction of mines use this reclamation approach.&nbsp;&nbsp;So the forest loss would likely be a long-term loss.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mountaintop mining is a type of surface mining used to extract coal in the central Appalachian Region by moving surface layers of soil and rock into adjacent valleys, creating &ldquo;valley fills.&rdquo;&nbsp;This type of surface mining occurs primarily in&nbsp;southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky with smaller portions in Tennessee and western Virginia.&nbsp; It has a major role in changing the configuration and composition of the forested landscapes that are typically found in the Appalachian Region.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The article,&nbsp;<em>Impacts of mountaintop mining on terrestrial ecosystem integrity: identifying landscape thresholds for avian species in the central Appalachians, United States</em>, by Douglas A. Becker, Petra B. Wood, Michael P. Strager, Christine Mazzarella is available&nbsp;<a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10980-014-0134-8" target="_blank">online</a>.</span></p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=GBvFh14kcqI:I3YHgxrmpNY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=GBvFh14kcqI:I3YHgxrmpNY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=GBvFh14kcqI:I3YHgxrmpNY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?i=GBvFh14kcqI:I3YHgxrmpNY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/GBvFh14kcqI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 11 May 2015 9:40:20 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4214&from=rssPRWater MarcellusshaleGeographicAreasNortheasthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/FrNwicRcB2I/article.asp
stateWV<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->A recent study comparing historic water quality from the Monongahela River Basin in West Virginia found little change in the groundwater and few changes in the surface water samples, according to a new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:dbchambe@usgs.gov">Doug &nbsp;Chambers</a>
( Phone: 304-347-5130 x231
);
<a href="mailto:hhamilton@usgs.gov">Hannah&nbsp;Hamilton</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4356
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p><strong>Monongahela</strong> <strong>River</strong> <strong>Basin</strong>, <strong>W</strong>. <strong>Va</strong>. &ndash; <!--introstart-->A recent study comparing historic water quality from the Monongahela River Basin in West Virginia found little change in the groundwater and few changes in the surface water samples, according to a new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey.<!--introend--></p>
<p>A current survey of groundwater from this area, which has seen shale gas exploration for about the past eight years, showed no significant difference from historical water samples.&nbsp; Surface water samples show increases in pH levels and significantly higher concentrations of chloride and strontium when compared to historic samples, constituents most often associated with the treatment of coal-mine drainage, and the presence of highly concentrated salt water.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The differences in pH, higher in the recent USGS survey, are likely attributable to acid mine drainage from coal mines now being treated, resulting in an overall improvement in this measure of water quality. &nbsp; &nbsp;Elevated chloride in particular can inhibit plant growth, impair reproduction, and reduce the diversity of organisms in streams. Strontium is an element commonly found in the waters of the region and is typically found in high concentrations in deeper aquifers of the study area.</p>
<p>Dissolved methane was among the water-quality characteristics analyzed in groundwater samples. Although methane was detected in samples, the concentrations were similar to those in samples collected prior to intensive shale gas development. &nbsp;One of the societal concerns with unconventional gas production is the possible migration of methane into drinking water aquifers because it can be flammable or even explosive. Methane in the area has multiple sources, including conventional gas production, coal bed methane, and naturally occurring microbial production.</p>
<p>Since about 2007, the use of horizontal drill&shy;ing and hydraulic fracturing technology have led to extensive development of gas from the Marcellus Shale in the Monongahela River Basin.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Getting baseline information on groundwater and surface-water quality and periodic resampling is very important to assessing impacts of subsurface activities in particular, as some water quality impacts can take years-to-decades to be observable in the fresh groundwater resources we most often use and monitor,&rdquo; said Doug Chambers, a USGS biologist and water quality specialist, lead author on the study. &ldquo;Identifying change in water-quality conditions over time is difficult without a benchmark or baseline for comparison. To develop our baseline in this study, we focused on water-quality characteristics typical of shallow aquifers in the region rather than hydraulic fracturing fluid additives.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Within the recent survey, the researchers also compared samples taken from areas with high intensity of shale gas production, low intensity of shale gas production or no shale gas production. They found that surface water samples differed only in respect to fluoride and barium concentrations, which were higher in areas of <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5233/pdf/sir2014-5233.pdf#page=11">high shale gas production</a>. &nbsp;</p>
<p>In addition to shale gas production, conventional oil and gas extraction, coal mining, and the legacy effects of both gas extraction and coal-mining have affected and will continue to affect groundwater and surface-water quality in the region. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The Marcellus Shale is a formation about 400 million years old that underlies large parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, and smaller parts of Virginia, Maryland, and Tennessee. The Marcellus Shale ranges in depth from about 2,000 feet below mean sea level along the western edge of its extent to greater than 6,000 feet below mean sea level along the eastern edge, with the thicker deposits occurring at greater depths. A<a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2011/3092/"> recent assessment</a> estimated that an average &nbsp;of 84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and over three billion barrels of natural gas liquids are technically recoverable from the Mar&shy;cellus Shale.</p>
<p>Groundwater samples were collected from 39 wells and 2 springs in the Monongahela River Basin in West Virginia. &nbsp;The sites were selected from a group of wells and springs sampled as part of the West Virginia Ambient Groundwater Monitoring network. The groundwater survey sites were selected to provide wide areal distribution throughout the study area. However, the distribution of production wells was not suf&shy;ficient to provide adequate areal coverage. Therefore, samples were also collected from domestic wells, USGS water-level network wells, other types of wells, or springs to provide addi&shy;tional geographic coverage in areas with few production wells.&nbsp; Streamwater samples were collected from 50 small streams, all with watersheds smaller than 41square miles.&nbsp; These sites had all been previously sampled and were selected to represent the range of Marcellus Shale gas production intensity in the Monongahela River Basin.</p>
<p>The publication, <strong>Water Quality of Groundwater and Stream Base Flow in the Marcellus Shale Gas Field of the Monongahela River Basin, West Virginia, 2011&ndash;12, Scientific Investigations Report 2014-5233 </strong>is available <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2014/5233">online</a>.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/FrNwicRcB2I" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:34:15 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4201&from=rssPRCrowdsourcing Smartphone Data Could Provide Valuable Advance Notice for People in Quake Zones NaturalHazardshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/u9DwGucLOhQ/article.asp
stateALstateAKstateAZstateARstateASstateCAstateCOstateMPstateCTstateDEstateDCstateFLstateFSstateGAstateGUstateHIstateIDstateILstateINstateIAstateKSstateKYstateLAstateMEstateMDstateMAstateMIstateMNstateMSstateMOstateMTstateNEstateNVstateNHstateNJstateNMstateNYstateNCstateNDstateOHstateOKstateORstatePAstatePRstateRIstateRMstateRPstateSCstateSDstateTNstateTXstateUTstateVTstateVIstateVAstateWAstateWVstateWIstateWYstateNATstateXN<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->Smartphones and other personal electronic devices could, in regions where they are in widespread use, function as early warning systems for large earthquakes according to newly reported research
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Crowdsourcing Smartphone Data Could Provide Valuable Advance Notice for People in Quake Zones</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:garcia@usgs.gov">Susan &nbsp;Garcia, USGS</a>
( Phone: 650-346-0998
);
<a href="mailto:debwms@caltech.edu">Deborah&nbsp;Williams-Hedges, Caltech</a>
( Phone: 626-395-3227
);
<a href="mailto:jekever@uh.edu">Jeannie &nbsp;Kever, UH</a>
( Phone: 713-743-0778
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p>Additional contacts:&nbsp; Alan Buis, JPL 818-354-0474, <a href="mailto:alan.d.buis@jpl.nasa.gov">alan.d.buis@jpl.nasa.gov</a> and Donna Sturgess, CMU-SI 412-551-7436, <a href="mailto:sturgessd@gmail.com">sturgessd@gmail.com</a></p>
<hr />
<p>Note to Editors: This news release is available in <a href="http://usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4187">Spanish</a> and <a href="http://chinese.eurekalert.org/zh/pub_releases/2015-04/aaft-rts040915.php">Chinese</a>.</p>
<p>MENLO PARK, Calif.&mdash; <!--introstart-->Smartphones and other personal electronic devices could, in regions where they are in widespread use, function as early warning systems for large earthquakes according to newly reported research.<!--introend--> This technology could serve regions of the world that cannot afford higher quality, but more expensive,&nbsp;conventional earthquake early warning systems, or could contribute to those systems.</p>
<p>The study, led by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey and published April 10 in the inaugural volume of the new AAAS journal <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org">Science Advances</a>, found that the sensors in smartphones and similar devices could be used to build earthquake warning systems.&nbsp; Despite being less accurate than scientific-grade equipment, the GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers in a smartphone can detect the permanent ground movement (displacement) caused by fault motion in a large earthquake.</p>
<p>Using crowdsourced observations from participating users&rsquo; smartphones, earthquakes could be detected and analyzed, and customized earthquake warnings could be transmitted back to users. &ldquo;Crowdsourced alerting means that the community will benefit by data generated from the community,&rdquo; said Sarah Minson, USGS geophysicist and lead author of the study. Minson was a post-doctoral researcher at Caltech while working on this study.</p>
<p>Earthquake early warning systems detect the start of an earthquake and rapidly transmit warnings to people and automated systems before they experience shaking at their location.&nbsp; While much of the world&rsquo;s population is susceptible to damaging earthquakes, EEW systems are currently operating in only a few regions around the globe, including Japan and Mexico. &ldquo;Most of the world does not receive earthquake warnings mainly due to the cost of building the necessary scientific monitoring networks,&rdquo; said USGS geophysicist and project lead Benjamin Brooks.</p>
<p>Researchers tested the feasibility of crowdsourced EEW with a simulation of a hypothetical magnitude 7 earthquake, and with real data from the 2011 magnitude 9 Tohoku-oki, Japan earthquake. The results show that crowdsourced EEW could be achieved with only a tiny percentage of people in a given area contributing information from their smartphones. For example, if phones from fewer than 5000 people in a large metropolitan area responded, the earthquake could be detected and analyzed fast enough to issue a warning to areas farther away before the onset of strong shaking. &ldquo;The speed of an electronic warning travels faster than the earthquake shaking does,&rdquo; explained Craig Glennie, a report author and professor at the University of Houston.</p>
<p>The authors found that the sensors in smartphones and similar devices could be used to issue earthquake warnings for earthquakes of approximately magnitude 7 or larger, but not for smaller, yet potentially damaging earthquakes.&nbsp; Comprehensive EEW requires a dense network of scientific instruments.&nbsp; Scientific-grade EEW, such as the U.S. Geological Survey&rsquo;s ShakeAlert system that is currently being implemented on the west coast of the United States, will be able to help minimize the impact of earthquakes over a wide range of magnitudes.&nbsp; However, in many parts of the world where there are insufficient resources to build and maintain scientific networks, but consumer electronics are increasingly common, crowdsourced EEW has significant potential.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The U.S. earthquake early warning system is being built on our high-quality scientific earthquake networks, but crowdsourced approaches can augment our system and have real potential to make warnings possible in places that don&rsquo;t have high-quality networks,&rdquo; said Douglas Given, USGS coordinator of the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System. The U.S. Agency for International Development has already agreed to fund a pilot project, in collaboration with the <a href="http://www.sismologia.cl/">Chilean Centro Sismol&oacute;gico Nacional</a>, to test a pilot hybrid earthquake warning system comprising stand-alone smartphone sensors and scientific-grade sensors along the Chilean coast.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The use of mobile phone fleets as a distributed sensor network &mdash; and the statistical insight that many imprecise instruments can contribute to the creation of more precise measurements &mdash; has broad applicability including great potential to benefit communities where there isn&rsquo;t an existing network of scientific instruments,&rdquo; said Bob Iannucci of Carnegie Mellon University, Silicon Valley.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Thirty years ago it took months to assemble a crude picture of the deformations from an earthquake. This new technology promises to provide a near-instantaneous picture with much greater resolution,&rdquo; said Thomas Heaton, a coauthor of the study and professor of Engineering Seismology at Caltech.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Crowdsourced data are less precise, but for larger earthquakes that cause large shifts in the ground surface, they contain enough information to detect that an earthquake has occurred, information necessary for early warning,&rdquo; said study co-author Susan Owen of NASA&rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.</p>
<p>This research was a collaboration among scientists from the USGS, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the University of Houston, NASA&rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Carnegie Mellon University-Silicon Valley, and included support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.&nbsp;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.caltech.edu">Caltech </a>is a world-renowned research and education institution focused on science and engineering, where faculty and students pursue new knowledge about our world and search for the kinds of bold and innovative advances that will transform our future.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.uh.edu">University of Houston</a> is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cmu.edu">Carnegie Mellon University</a> is a private, internationally ranked university with a top-tier engineering program that is known for our intentional focus on cross-disciplinary collaboration in research.</p>
<p>Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, the <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov">Jet Propulsion Laboratory</a> has active programs in Earth science, space-based astronomy and technology development, and manages NASA&rsquo;s worldwide Deep Space Network.</p>
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="700" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_04_10/eew2.jpg"><img src="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_04_10/eew2_tn.jpg" alt="Crowdsourced Earthquake Warnings. Cell phones can detect ground motion and warn others before strong shaking arrives. Base map originally created by NASA. Artwork credit: Emiliano Rodriguez Nuesch with Pacifico." /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="small">Crowdsourced Earthquake Warnings. Cell phones can detect ground motion and warn others before strong shaking arrives. Base map originally created by NASA. Artwork credit: Emiliano Rodriguez Nuesch with <a href="http://pacifico.la/#/home">Pacifico</a>. (<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_04_10/eew2.jpg">High resolution image</a>)</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=u9DwGucLOhQ:-6C303eUGo0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=u9DwGucLOhQ:-6C303eUGo0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=u9DwGucLOhQ:-6C303eUGo0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?i=u9DwGucLOhQ:-6C303eUGo0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/u9DwGucLOhQ" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 10 Apr 2015 14:15:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4189&from=rssPRCrowdsourcing Smartphone Data Could Provide Valuable Advance Notice for People in Quake Zones NaturalHazardshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/2xSrbW1qcng/article.asp
stateALstateAKstateAZstateARstateASstateCAstateCOstateMPstateCTstateDEstateDCstateFLstateFSstateGAstateGUstateHIstateIDstateILstateINstateIAstateKSstateKYstateLAstateMEstateMDstateMAstateMIstateMNstateMSstateMOstateMTstateNEstateNVstateNHstateNJstateNMstateNYstateNCstateNDstateOHstateOKstateORstatePAstatePRstateRIstateRMstateRPstateSCstateSDstateTNstateTXstateUTstateVTstateVIstateVAstateWAstateWVstateWIstateWYstateNATstateXN<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->Los tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles y otros dispositivos electr&oacute;nicos personales podr&iacute;an ayudar en las regiones donde se encuentran en uso generalizado, y pueden funcionar como sistemas de alerta para terremotos mayor seg&uacute;n la nueva investigaci&oacute;n cient&iacute;fica recien publicada
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Crowdsourcing los teléfonos móviles podrían proporcionar datos valiosos y notificación avanzadas para habitantes viviendo en zonas de terremotos</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:garcia@usgs.gov">Susan&nbsp;Garcia, USGS</a>
( Phone: 650-346-0998
);
<a href="mailto:debwms@caltech.edu">Deborah&nbsp;Williams-Hedges, Caltech</a>
( Phone: 626-395-3227
);
<a href="mailto:jekever@uh.edu">Jeannie &nbsp;Kever, UH</a>
( Phone: 713-743-0778
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p class="normal">Contactos adicionales:&nbsp; <span style="widows: 1; text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; display: inline !important; font: small Verdana, arial, sans-serif; white-space: normal; float: none; color: #222222; word-spacing: 0px;">Alan Buis, JPL 818-354-0474<span class="Apple">&nbsp;</span></span><a href="mailto:alan.d.buis@jpl.nasa.gov" target="_blank">alan.d.buis@jpl.nasa.gov</a>, <span style="widows: 1; text-transform: none; background-color: #ffffff; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; display: inline !important; font: small Verdana, arial, sans-serif; white-space: normal; float: none; color: #222222; word-spacing: 0px;">Donna Sturgess, CMU-SI 412-551-7436<span class="Apple">&nbsp;</span></span><a href="mailto:sturgessd@gmail.com" target="_blank">sturgessd@gmail.com</a></p>
<hr />
<p class="normal">MENLO PARK, California &mdash; <!--introstart-->Los tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles y otros dispositivos electr&oacute;nicos personales podr&iacute;an ayudar en las regiones donde se encuentran en uso generalizado, y pueden funcionar como sistemas de alerta para terremotos mayor seg&uacute;n la nueva investigaci&oacute;n cient&iacute;fica recien publicada.<!--introend--> Esta tecnolog&iacute;a podr&iacute;a se ut&iacute;l en regiones del mundo que no tienen los recursos econ&oacute;micos necesarios para sostener un sistema de calidad alta de alerta temprana, que es mas costosas, y mas convencional<strong> </strong>y que tambien podr&iacute;a contribuir a otras sistemas.</p>
<p class="normal">El estudio, dirigido por cient&iacute;ficos del Servicio Geol&oacute;gico de Los Estados Unidos (USGS) y publicado el 10 de abril en el volumen inaugural de la nueva revista AAAS<a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org"> </a><a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org">Science Advances</a>, encontr&oacute; que los sensores en los tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles y dispositivos similares se podr&iacute;an utilizar para construir sistemas de EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System). A pesar de ser menos precisos que los instrumentos cient&iacute;ficos, los receptores GPS (Global Positioning System; sistema de posicionamiento global) en un tel&eacute;fono m&oacute;vil puede detectar el movimiento de la tierra (desplazamiento) causado por el movimiento de la falla en un terremoto mayor.</p>
<p class="normal">Utilizando crowdsourcing observaciones que usan tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles los terremotos podr&iacute;an ser detectados y analizados, y las alertas de terremotos programadas se podr&iacute;an transmitir de nuevo a los participantes que lo usan. &ldquo;Crowdsourcing alertas significa que la comunidad se beneficiar&aacute; por los datos generados por la comunidad", dijo Sarah Minson, geof&iacute;sica del USGS y autora principal del estudio. Minson fue una investigadora antes de recibir su doctorado en Caltech mientras que trabajo en este estudio.</p>
<p class="normal">Sistemas de EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) detectan el comienzo de un terremoto y emiten r&aacute;pidamente advertencias a las comunidades y a los sistemas autom&aacute;ticos antes de que se siente el sacudimiento de la tierra donde se ubican.&nbsp; Aunque gran parte de la poblaci&oacute;n mundial es susceptible a terremotos da&ntilde;inos, EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) est&aacute;n operando actualmente en s&oacute;lo unas pocas regiones del mundo, incluyendo a Jap&oacute;n y M&eacute;xico. "La mayor&iacute;a del mundo no recibe las alertas de terremotos debido principalmente al costo de la construcci&oacute;n de las redes operativas cient&iacute;ficas necesarias", dijo el geof&iacute;sico del USGS y l&iacute;der del proyecto Benjamin Brooks.</p>
<p class="normal">Los investigadores probaron la viabilidad de crowdsourcing del EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) con una simulaci&oacute;n de un terremoto hipot&eacute;tico de magnitud 7,0 y con datos reales del terremoto de magnitud 9 en 2011 Tohoku-oki, Jap&oacute;n. Los resultados muestran que crowdsourcing del sistema EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) podr&iacute;a lograrse solamente con un peque&ntilde;o porcentaje de personas en un &aacute;rea determinada que contribuye informaci&oacute;n de sus tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles. Por ejemplo, si los tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles de menos de 5.000 personas en una &aacute;rea grande metropolitana respondieran, el terremoto podr&iacute;a ser detectado y analizado suficientemente r&aacute;pido como para emitir una advertencia a las &aacute;reas m&aacute;s lejanas antes del fuerte sacudimiento de la tierra. "La velocidad de una alerta electr&oacute;nica viaja m&aacute;s r&aacute;pido que el sacudimiento de un terremoto", explic&oacute; Craig Glennie, autor y profesor de la Universidad de Houston, Tejas.</p>
<p class="normal">Los autores encontraron que los sensores en los tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles y dispositivos similares se podr&iacute;an utilizar para emitir alertas de terremotos para los temblores de magnitud aproximadamente 7 o m&aacute;s grande, pero no para terremotos de menos intensidad, sin embargo para terremotos potencialmente da&ntilde;inos. Un sistema integral de EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) requiere una densa red de instrumentos cient&iacute;ficos. Un sistema EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) cient&iacute;fica de alto grado, como el sistema ShakeAlert del Servicio Geol&oacute;gico de los Estados Unidos (USGS) que se est&aacute; aplicando actualmente en la costa oeste de los Estados Unidos, ser&aacute; capaz de ayudar a disminuir el impacto de los terremotos en un amplio rango de magnitudes. Sin embargo, en muchas partes del mundo donde no hay recursos suficientes para construir y mantener redes cient&iacute;ficas, pero el consumo electronicos son cada vez m&aacute;s comunes, crowdsourcing sistema EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) tiene un significado potencial.</p>
<p class="normal">"El sistema EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) de los EE.UU. se est&aacute; construyendo en nuestras redes de alta calidad cient&iacute;fica, pero enfoques de crowdsourcing pueden aumentar nuestro sistema y tienen un potencial real para hacer advertencias posibles en lugares que no cuentan con redes de alta calidad", dijo Douglas Given, coordinador de USGS de ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System, el sistema EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System). La Agencia de los Estados Unidos para el Desarrollo Internacional ya ha acordado financiar un proyecto piloto, en colaboraci&oacute;n con el <a href="http://www.sismologia.cl/">Chilean Centro Sismol&oacute;gico Nacional</a>, para poner a prueba una sistema h&iacute;brido de EEW (Earthquake Early Warning System) piloto que consiste de sensores de tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles aut&oacute;nomos y sensores de grado cient&iacute;fico a lo largo de la costa chilena.</p>
<p class="normal">"El uso de los tel&eacute;fonos m&oacute;viles como una red de sensores distribuidos - y la visi&oacute;n estad&iacute;stica de que muchos instrumentos imprecisos pueden contribuir a la creaci&oacute;n de medidas m&aacute;s precisas - tienen una amplia aplicaci&oacute;n incluyendo una potencia grande para beneficiar a las comunidades donde no existe una red de instrumentos cient&iacute;fico", dijo Bob Iannucci de la Universidad Carnegie Mellon, Silicon Valley en California.</p>
<p class="normal">"Hace treinta a&ntilde;os tom&oacute; meses para montar una imagen crudo de las deformaciones de un terremoto. Esta nueva tecnolog&iacute;a promete ofrecer una imagen casi instant&aacute;nea con una resoluci&oacute;n mucho mayor," dijo Thomas Heaton, coautor del estudio y profesor de Ingenier&iacute;a de Sismolog&iacute;a en Caltech.</p>
<p class="normal">"Los datos de crowdsourcing son menos precisos, pero para los terremotos mayores que causan grandes cambios en la superficie del suelo, contienen suficiente informaci&oacute;n para detectar que se ha producido un terremoto, la informaci&oacute;n necesaria para la sistema alerta temprana de terremotos", dijo el coautor del estudio Susan Owen de la NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.</p>
<p class="normal">Esta investigaci&oacute;n fue una colaboraci&oacute;n entre cient&iacute;ficos del USGS, Instituto de Tecnolog&iacute;a de California (Caltech), la Universidad de Houston, Laboratorio de la NASA&rsquo;s Jet Propulsion, y la Universidad Carnegie Mellon-Silicon Valley, y se incluye el apoyo de la Fundaci&oacute;n Gordon y Betty Moore.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="normal"><a href="http://www.caltech.edu">Caltech</a> es una instituci&oacute;n renombrada de investigaci&oacute;n y educaci&oacute;n mundial centrado en la ciencia y la ingenier&iacute;a, donde profesores y estudiantes persiguen nuevos conocimientos acerca de nuestro mundo y la b&uacute;squeda de los tipos de avances audaces e innovadoras que transformar&aacute;n nuestro futuro.</p>
<p class="normal">La <a href="http://www.uh.edu/">Universidad de Houston</a> es una universidad p&uacute;blica de investigaci&oacute;n de alto grado designado por el Carnegie y reconocido por The Princeton Review como una de las mejores universidades de la naci&oacute;n para la educaci&oacute;n de pregrado.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="normal"><a href="http://www.cmu.edu">Carnegie Mellon</a> es una universidad privada, clasificada internacionalmente con programas en &aacute;reas que van desde la ciencia, la tecnolog&iacute;a y los negocios al orden p&uacute;blico, las humanidades y las artes.</p>
<p class="normal">Administrado por la NASA por el Instituto de Tecnolog&iacute;a de California, el <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/">Laboratorio de Jet Propulsion</a> tiene programas activos en ciencias de la tierra, astronom&iacute;a basada en el espacio y el desarrollo tecnol&oacute;gico, y manejado por todo el mundo de la NASA Deep Space Network.</p>
<p class="normal">USGS ofrece la ciencia para un mundo cambiante. Visite<a href="http://usgs.gov"> </a><a href="http://usgs.gov">USGS.gov</a>, y s&iacute;ganos en Twitter<a href="http://twitter.com/USGS"> </a><a href="http://twitter.com/USGS">@USGS</a>, y nuestros otros<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/socialmedia/"> </a><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/socialmedia/">canales de medios sociales</a>.</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=2xSrbW1qcng:Of_XTjziGm0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=2xSrbW1qcng:Of_XTjziGm0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=2xSrbW1qcng:Of_XTjziGm0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?i=2xSrbW1qcng:Of_XTjziGm0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/2xSrbW1qcng" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 10 Apr 2015 14:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4187&from=rssPRWater WaterGroundwaterResources
WaterHydrologicNetworksandAnalysis GeographicAreasNortheast
EnvironmentalHealth
EnvironmentalHealthToxicSubstancesHydrology ElkRiver
ChecmicalSpill ElkRiverChemicalSpill Charlestonhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/Tu4B7oq9YqU/article.asp
stateINstateKYstateOHstateWVstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- A year after the January 9, 2014 chemical spill on the Elk River that affected the drinking water of 300,000 Charleston area residents, scientists continue to provide new information to increase understanding of the chemicals in the spill and how they traveled through the water system. &nbsp;
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>USGS Study Provides New Insights</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:wforeman@usgs.gov">Bill&nbsp;Foreman</a>
( Phone: 303-236-3942
);
<a href="mailto:dbchambe@usgs.gov">Doug &nbsp;Chambers</a>
( Phone: 304-590-1276
);
<a href="mailto:vhines@usgs.gov">Vic &nbsp;Hines</a>
( Phone: 813-855-3125
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><strong>CHARLESTON, W. Va. -- </strong>A year after the January 9, 2014 chemical spill on the Elk River that affected the drinking water of 300,000 Charleston area residents, scientists continue to provide new information to increase understanding of the chemicals in the spill and how they traveled through the water system. &nbsp;</p>
<p>A new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey and published online in the journal<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653514012648"> Chemosphere</a>, examined river and tap water samples at several locations impacted by &nbsp;&nbsp;the spill. &nbsp;It is among the first studies on the spill to be published.</p>
<p>Among the findings, some of which informed other recently published studies:</p>
<ul>
<li>The primary spill component, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or 4-MCHM, was still present in the Elk River at low concentrations six days after the spill began.</li>
<li>The spill plume traveled at least 390 miles downriver from the spill location to the Ohio River at Louisville, Kentucky. This distance represents a larger geographic area and population than the Charleston area that experienced many of the reported impacts of the spill.</li>
<li>4-MCHM was present in Charleston tap water more than six weeks after the spill began. Concentrations decreased throughout the testing, but were always present at some level.</li>
<li>Another component of the spilled material (a form of methyl 4-methylcyclohexanecarboxylate) -- previously unreported -- was detected in Ohio River and Charleston tap water samples.&nbsp; This component has a pungent, somewhat sweet/fruity odor unlike the licorice-like odo characteristic of 4-MCHM, and likely contributed to the tap water odor complaints of Charleston residents.</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;This is the first study to report concentrations for each of the two chemical forms of the primary spill component (4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or 4-MCHM) in water samples.&nbsp; The significance of this is that these two distinct forms have unique properties and odors, and knowing this information will inform other studies looking at various potential impacts of the spill. &nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;&ldquo;This spill represented a huge challenge for all of the entities who responded to it, as the behavior of these specific components in water environments was largely unknown before the spill,&rdquo; said Bill Foreman, a USGS research chemist and lead author of the study. &ldquo;Researchers had little information on how the spilled chemicals moved through water, their stability or toxicity, or even how to measure them, as published information was either limited or non-existent.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&nbsp;One key contribution of the study was a method, developed by scientists at the USGS in collaboration with chemists from West Virginia University, that was able to determine both chemical forms of 4-MCHM to concentrations less than 0.5 part-per-billion.&nbsp; Measurement at these low concentrations is critical to understanding 4-MCHM behavior in the environment and in drinking water systems, and because Crude MCHM, part of the spill material, has a low odor threshold that people can smell at less than 1 ppb.</p>
<p>Citation for the pre-print article published online open access is:</p>
<p>Foreman, W.T., Rose, D.L., Chambers, D.B., Crain, A.S., Murtagh, L.K., Thakellapalli, H., and Wang, K.K., 2014, Determination of (4-Methylcyclohexyl) methanol isomers by heated purge-and-trap GC/MS in water samples from the 2014 Elk River, West Virginia, chemical spill: Chemosphere,<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.11.006"> http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2014.11.006</a>.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/Tu4B7oq9YqU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 9 Jan 2015 16:11:07 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4095&from=rssPRClimateandLandUseChange
NortheastClimateScienceCenterGeographicAreasNorthe
asthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/_PH-jcFxjX4/article.asp
stateCTstateDEstateILstateINstateIAstateKYstateMEstateMDstateMAstateMIstateMNstateMOstateNHstateNJstateNYstateOHstatePAstateRIstateVTstateVAstateWVstateWI<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart--> Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior&rsquo;s Northeast Climate Science Center (NE CSC) is awarding nearly $700,000 to universities and other partners for research to guide managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural resources in planning how to help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Research Will Provide Land and Wildlife Managers with Tools to Adapt to Climate Change</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:mratnaswamy@usgs.gov">Mary&nbsp;Ratnaswamy</a>
( Phone: 413-545-3424
);
<a href="mailto:hhamilton@usgs.gov">Hannah&nbsp;Hamilton</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4356
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><strong>Reporters: Descriptions of the funded projects are available </strong><a href="https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/csc/northeast"><strong>here</strong></a><strong>. </strong></p>
<p><img title="Magnolia warbler" src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/11_03_2014/cGWi0MLyy6_11_03_2014/thumbs/magnolia_warbler.JPG" alt="Magnolia warbler in the Presidential Range, White Mountains, NH" width="112" height="150" /><img title="Gray jay perched on tree in the Presidential Range, White Mountains, NH" src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/11_03_2014/cGWi0MLyy6_11_03_2014/thumbs/gray_jay.JPG" alt="Gray jay" width="200" height="150" /><img title="Yellow bellied flycatcher" src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/11_03_2014/cGWi0MLyy6_11_03_2014/thumbs/yellow-bellied_flycatcher.JPG" alt="Yellow bellied flycatcher in the Presidential Range, White Mountains, NH" width="112" height="150" /></p>
<p><span><!--introstart--> </span>Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior&rsquo;s Northeast Climate Science Center (NE CSC) is awarding nearly $700,000 to universities and other partners for <a href="https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/csc/northeast">research</a> to guide managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural resources in planning how to help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change.<!--introend--></p>
<p>"These climate studies are designed to help address regional concerns associated with climate change, providing a pathway to enhancing resilience and supporting local community needs," said Secretary Jewell. "The impacts of climate change are vast and complex, so studies like these are critical to help&nbsp;ensure that our nation's responses are rooted in sound science."</p>
<p>The six funded studies will focus on how climate change will affect natural resources and management actions that can be taken to help offset such change. They include:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li>Projected changes in winter severity, snowpack and lake ice in the Great Lakes Basin over the coming 21<sup>st</sup> century and anticipated consequences for wildlife populations;</li>
<li>Increased understanding of information needs for management of floodplain conservation lands, so the right information is available at the right time for the Mississippi and Missouri rivers; </li>
<li>Development of a spatial decision support system to assist Landscape Conservation Cooperatives and partner resource management agencies across the Mississippi River Basin in addressing conservation challenges related to nutrient runoff, a major contributor to Gulf hypoxia and declines in wildlife populations; </li>
<li>Development of distribution models for North American breeding birds that show dynamic responses to climate change, and that will help resource managers identify species or regions most vulnerable to climate change;</li>
<li>Evaluation of how U.S. Atlantic coastal fish and wildlife populations are responding to climate change through shifts in phenology, or the timing of recurring life events such as migration and breeding; and</li>
<li>Development of a communication, collaboration and networking platform to link early career scientists interested in the climate sciences and climate adaptation across the Climate Science Centers.</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Natural resource managers in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States are faced with enormously complex challenges in dealing with the effects of climate change on habitats, species and ecosystems,&rdquo; said Mary Ratnaswamy, Director of Interior&rsquo;s Northeast Climate Science Center.&nbsp; &ldquo;These and other ongoing studies are designed for managers and policy makers working to sustain communities and landscapes while adapting to climate change.&nbsp; Our collaborative work with partners is developing and sharing information, giving context to uncertainty, evaluating impacts of climate change across multiple scales, and building capacity including support for early career scientists.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Each of the Department of the Interior's eight&nbsp;<a href="http://www.doi.gov/csc/">Climate Science Centers</a> (CSCs) worked with states, tribes, federal agencies, <a href="http://www.fws.gov/landscape-conservation/lcc.html">Landscape Conservation Cooperatives</a> (LCCs), universities supporting the CSCs, and other regional partners to identify the highest priority management challenges in need of scientific input, and to solicit and select research projects.</p>
<p>The studies will be undertaken by teams of scientists from the universities, colleges and research labs that comprise the Northeast CSC, from USGS science centers and Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units, and from other partners such as the states, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, USDA Forest Service, Indian tribes, state fish and wildlife agencies, other DOI Bureaus, and the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives in each region.</p>
<p>The eight <a href="https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/sites/default/files/files/CSC_consortia_and_regions.pdf">DOI Climate Science Centers</a> form a national network, and are coordinated by the&nbsp;<a href="https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/">National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center,</a> located at the headquarters of Interior's U.S. Geological Survey. CSCs and LCCs have been created under <a href="http://www.doi.gov/whatwedo/climate/cop15/upload/SecOrder3289.pdf">Interior's strategy to address the impacts of climate change</a> on America&rsquo;s waters, land, and other natural and cultural resources. Together, Interior's CSCs and LCCs will assess the impacts of climate change and other landscape-scale stressors that typically extend beyond the borders of any single national wildlife refuge, national park or Bureau of Land Management unit and will identify strategies to ensure that resources across landscapes are resilient in the face of climate change.</p>
<p>The Northeast Climate Science Center is hosted by the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The NE CSC consortium is comprised of the College of Menominee Nation, Columbia University, the Marine Biological Laboratory, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri &ndash; Columbia, and University of Wisconsin &ndash; Madison. The NE CSC conducts climate change science for Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and parts of Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. <strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>Useful links:</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/csc/northeast">Northeast CSC projects</a></p>
<p>Northeast CSC&nbsp;<a href="http://www.doi.gov/csc/northeast/index.cfm">Homepage</a></p>
<p>NE CSC's Consortium&nbsp;<a href="https://necsc.umass.edu/">Website</a></p>
<p><a href="https://nccwsc.usgs.gov/project-pages/4f4e476ae4b07f02db47e13b">Full list</a> of funded projects for all eight DOI Climate Science Centers</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=_PH-jcFxjX4:68Ti9kUrZiM:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=_PH-jcFxjX4:68Ti9kUrZiM:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=_PH-jcFxjX4:68Ti9kUrZiM:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?i=_PH-jcFxjX4:68Ti9kUrZiM:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/_PH-jcFxjX4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 18 Dec 2014 12:30:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4087&from=rssTAecosystemsendocrince-disrupting chemicals fishhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/rTy-nzy4M1g/article.asp
stateWV<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->New USGS-led research suggests that fish exposed to estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals may have increased susceptibility to infectious disease
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:liwanowicz@usgs.gov ">Luke &nbsp;Iwanowicz</a>
( Phone: 304-724-4550
);
<a href="mailto:hhamilton@usgs.gov">Hannah&nbsp;Hamilton</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4356
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p><strong>LEETOWN, W.Va. --</strong>&nbsp;<!--introstart-->New USGS-led research suggests that fish exposed to estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals may have increased susceptibility to infectious disease.<!--introend--></p>
<p>Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals can affect the reproductive system and cause the development of characteristics of the opposite sex, such as&nbsp;eggs in the testes of male fish. Wild- caught fish affected by endocrine-disrupting chemicals have been found in locations across the county. &nbsp;Estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals are derived from a variety of sources from natural estrogens to synthetic pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals that enter the waterways.</p>
<p>In this study, researchers&nbsp;discovered that cellular receptors for estrogen&nbsp;were present in cells of the channel catfish immune system, which alters the immune system response. These cellular receptors are similar to &ldquo;on-off switches&rdquo; that require a lock and key for activation. The study looked at channel catfish because of their well-researched leukocyte cell lines. Leukocytes are immune system cells involved in defending the body against infectious disease and foreign invaders.</p>
<p>Estrogens have been shown to modify immune system responses in mammals and a diverse group of ray-finned fishes that include tunas, halibut, herring and catfish. Most fish species are members of this group, called teleosts. Prior to this research few studies looked at how estrogen receptors in fish leukocytes function.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The study also marks the first time the dynamics of estrogen receptor gene behavior has been evaluated in activated immune cells.&nbsp;Immune cells are either activated or not, much like a dimmable light, there are degrees of activation. &nbsp;&nbsp;The researchers found that all cells of the immune system are not likely to be equally affected.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We found that B-cells that produce antibodies, T-cells that regulate and coordinate immune responses and destroy virus-infected cells, and macrophages that gobble up invaders, have different arrays of estrogen receptors,&rdquo; said&nbsp;lead author, USGS research biologist Luke Iwanowicz.&nbsp;&ldquo;It is likely that these cells are instructed by estrogens differently.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Iwanowicz noted that this work moves researchers one step closer to better understanding the consequences of exposure to estrogenic substances on the immune function in fish.&nbsp; &ldquo;This new research not only means that endocrine disruptors may make fish more prone to disease, but it also provides the context and baseline data to enhance our ability to conduct similar work in wild-caught fishes and investigate relationships between disease in the aquatic environments and endocrine disruptors.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Based on these findings, future research would explore age-related differences as well as seasonal differences in fish and estrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure.</p>
<p>The journal article, &ldquo;Channel catfish (<em>Ictalurus punctatus</em>) leukocytes express estrogen receptor isoforms ER&alpha; and ER&beta;2 and are functionally modulated by estrogens,&rdquo; by L.R. Iwanowicz, J.L. Stafford, R. Patino, E. Bengten, N.W. Millerand V.S. Blazer, is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1050464814002204" target="_blank">available online</a>&nbsp;in Fish &amp; Shellfish Immunology.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/rTy-nzy4M1g" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 8 Sep 2014 7:57:38 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3992&from=rssPRMountaintopMining EnvironmentalHealth Ecosystems ClimateandLandUseChange GeographicAreasNortheast GeographicAreasSoutheast FreshwaterSciencehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/yQ6IPWB77H8/article.asp
stateWV<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> KEARNEYSVILLE, W.Va. &ndash; Appalachian streams impacted by mountaintop mining have less than half as many fish species and about a third as many fish as non-impacted streams, according to U.S. Geological Survey research published this week in the journal Freshwater Science.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Number of Species in Studied Streams Drops by Half</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:nhitt@usgs.gov">Nathaniel&nbsp;Hitt</a>
( Phone: 304-724-4463
);
<a href="mailto:cquintero@usgs.gov">Christian&nbsp;Quintero</a>
( Phone: 813-498-5019
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><strong>KEARNEYSVILLE, W.Va</strong>. &ndash; Appalachian streams impacted by mountaintop mining have less than half as many fish species and about a third as many fish as non-impacted streams, according to U.S. Geological Survey <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/676997">research</a> published this week in the journal <em>Freshwater Science</em>.</p>
<p>The researchers used data from several time periods to track changes in fish diversity and abundance in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Guyandotterivermap.png">Guyandotte River basin</a> in West Virginia, including streams with and without headwater mining operations. The original fish data were collected by a team from Pennsylvania State University between 1999-2001, and USGS collected additional data from 2010-2011.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Appalachian Mountains are a global hotspot for freshwater fish diversity,&rdquo; said Nathaniel Hitt, a USGS research fish biologist and lead author of the study. &ldquo;Our paper provides some of the first peer-reviewed research to understand how fish communities respond to mountaintop mining in these biologically diverse headwater streams.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Hitt, along with USGS biologist and co-author Douglas Chambers, found no evidence that fish communities have recovered over time, and instead observed persistent effects of mountaintop mining associated with water quality degradation.</p>
<p>Prior research has linked water quality deterioration from mountaintop mining to the degradation of stream insect communities.&nbsp; The new USGS paper is the first to evaluate this issue for stream fish communities.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Our results indicate that headwater mining may be limiting fish communities by restricting the prey base available for fish,&rdquo; said Hitt. &ldquo;For instance, fish species with specialized diets of stream insects were more likely to be lost from the streams over time than fish species with more diverse diets.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Results of the new study indicated that water quality was generally more important than physical habitat for the observed fish community changes.&nbsp; The authors found elevated selenium and conductivity levels where fish community degradation was observed but saw no significant differences in physical habitat availability.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Selenium is an essential micronutrient that can become toxic when ingested at high doses. It naturally occurs within geological formations in Appalachia but can become concentrated in streams flowing from mountaintop mining operations. Conductivity is a measure of the capacity of water to carry an electrical current, and is used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assess a stream&rsquo;s ability to support aquatic life.</p>
<p>Mountaintop mining is a type of surface mining used to extract coal in Appalachia by moving surface layers of soil and rock into adjacent valleys, creating &ldquo;valley fills.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>This mining practice can significantly alter landscape topography, lowering mountaintop elevations by nearly 1,000 feet in some cases.&nbsp; It has been used extensively since the 1990s and currently is the greatest source of <a href="http://remotesensing.usgs.gov/gallery/gallery.php?cat=3#242">land use change in the region</a>.&nbsp; Prior research by USGS and others has demonstrated that headwater mountaintop mining affects downstream flows, water chemistry, stream insect communities, and public health in nearby communities.</p>
<p>The study, &ldquo;<a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/676997">Temporal changes in taxonomic and functional diversity of fish assemblages downstream from mountaintop mining</a>&rdquo; by Nathaniel P. Hitt and Douglas B. Chambers is published online by The Society for Freshwater Science.&nbsp;</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=yQ6IPWB77H8:4CwZImJw9kU:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=yQ6IPWB77H8:4CwZImJw9kU:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=yQ6IPWB77H8:4CwZImJw9kU:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?i=yQ6IPWB77H8:4CwZImJw9kU:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/yQ6IPWB77H8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 1 Jul 2014 11:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3927&from=rssPRClimateandLandUseChange ClimateandLandUseChangeCarbonSequestration ClimateandLandUseChangeLandRemoteSensing ClimateChange carbon CarbonSequestration GeologicCarbonSequestration LandCarbon Landsat8http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/fQdWTbTOmdc/article.asp
stateALstateARstateCTstateDEstateDCstateFLstateGAstateILstateINstateKYstateLAstateMEstateMDstateMAstateMIstateMSstateNHstateNYstateNCstateOHstatePAstateRIstateSCstateTNstateVTstateVAstateWVstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->On the one-year anniversary of President Obama&rsquo;s&nbsp;Climate Action Plan, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today released a&nbsp;new report&nbsp;showing that forests, wetlands and farms in the eastern United States naturally store 300 million tons of carbon a year (1,100 million tons of CO2 equivalent),&nbsp;which is nearly 15 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions EPA estimates the country emits each year or an amount that exceeds and offsets yearly U.S. car emissions
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Interior Releases Report on Anniversary of President’s Climate Action Plan; New Visualization Tool Helps Land Managers Make Smart, Informed Landscape-Level Decisions</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:joncampbell@usgs.gov">Jon&nbsp;Campbell</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4180
);
<a href="mailto:abwade@usgs.gov ">Anne-Berry&nbsp;Wade</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4483
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><strong>WASHINGTON, D.C.</strong>&nbsp;&ndash; <!--introstart-->On the one-year anniversary of President Obama&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/image/president27sclimateactionplan.pdf" target="_blank">Climate Action Plan</a>, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today released a&nbsp;<a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1804/" target="_blank">new report</a>&nbsp;showing that forests, wetlands and farms in the eastern United States naturally store 300 million tons of carbon a year (1,100 million tons of CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent),&nbsp;which is nearly 15 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions EPA estimates the country emits each year or an amount that exceeds and offsets yearly U.S. car emissions.<!--introend-->&nbsp;<br /><br />In conjunction with the national assessment, today USGS also released a new&nbsp;<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/climate_landuse/land_carbon/Data.asp" target="_blank">web tool</a>, which allows users to see the land and water carbon storage and change in their ecosystems between 2005 and 2050 in the lower 48 states. &nbsp;This tool was called for in the President&rsquo;s Climate Action Plan.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;Today we are taking another step forward in our ongoing effort to bring sound science to bear as we seek to tackle a central challenge of the 21st century &ndash; a changing climate,&rdquo; said Secretary Jewell. &nbsp;&ldquo;This landmark study by the U.S. Geological Survey provides yet another reason for being good stewards of our natural landscapes, as ecosystems play a critical role in removing harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that contributes to climate change.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br /><br />With today&rsquo;s report on the eastern United States, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has completed the national biological carbon assessment for ecosystems in the lower 48 states &ndash; a national inventory of the capacity of land-based and aquatic ecosystems to naturally store, or sequester, carbon, which was called for by Congress in 2007.&nbsp;<br /><br />Together, the ecosystems across the lower 48 states sequester about 474 million tons of carbon a year (1,738 million tons of <strong>CO<sub>2</sub></strong> equivalent), comparable to counter-balancing nearly two years of U.S. car emissions, or more than 20 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions EPA estimates the country emits each year.<br /><br />The assessment shows that the East stores more carbon than all of the rest of the lower 48 states combined even though it has fewer than 40 percent of the land base. &nbsp;Under some scenarios, USGS scientists found that the rate of sequestration for the lower 48 states is projected to decline by more than 25 percent by 2050, due to disturbances such as wildfires, urban development and increased demand for timber products.</p>
<p>&ldquo;What this means for the future is that ecosystems could store less carbon each year,&rdquo; said USGS Acting Director Suzette Kimball. &ldquo;Biological sequestration may not be able to offset greenhouse gas emissions nearly as effectively when these ecosystems are impaired.&rdquo;<br /><br />Forests accounted for more than 80 percent of the estimated carbon sequestered in the East annually, confirming the critical role of forests highlighted in the Administration&rsquo;s climate action initiative.<br /><br />USGS scientists have been building the national assessment since a 2007 congressional mandate in the Energy Independence and Security Act. &nbsp;The first report, on the&nbsp;<a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1787/" target="_blank">Great Plains</a>, was released in 2011, the second report, on the&nbsp;<a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1797/" target="_blank">Western United States</a>, was released in 2012. &nbsp;Reports on Alaska and Hawaii are expected to be completed in 2015. &nbsp;&nbsp;<br /><br />Biological carbon storage &ndash; also known as carbon sequestration &ndash; is the process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) is removed from the atmosphere and stored as carbon in vegetation, soils and sediment. &nbsp;The USGS inventory estimates the ability of different ecosystems to store carbon now and in the future, providing vital information for land-use and land-management decisions. &nbsp;Management of carbon stored in our ecosystems and agricultural areas is relevant both for mitigation of climate change and for adaptation to such changes.<br /><br />The area studied for the eastern U.S. carbon assessment was defined by similarities in ecology and land cover. The study area extends eastward from the western edge of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi floodplains, across the Appalachian Mountains, to the coastal plains of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The major ecosystems USGS researchers evaluated were terrestrial (forests, wetlands, agricultural lands, shrublands and grasslands), and aquatic (rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters).</p>
<p class="Normal1" style="text-align: center;"><strong>MAJOR FINDINGS ON BIOLOGICAL CARBON STORAGE </strong></p>
<p class="Normal1" style="text-align: center;"><strong>IN THE EASTERN UNITED <strong>STATES</strong></strong></p>
<p class="Normal1" style="text-align: center;"><strong><strong>&nbsp;</strong>U.S. Geological Survey, June 2014</strong></p>
<p class="Normal1"><strong>Major Findings: Current Eastern Carbon Storage (between 2001 and 2005) </strong></p>
<p class="Normal1">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The eastern U.S., with just under 40 percent of the land in the lower 48 states, stores more carbon than the rest of the conterminous United States.</p>
<p class="Normal1">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Forests, which occupy about half the land in the East, accounted for more than 80 percent of the region&rsquo;s estimated&nbsp;carbon sequestered annually.&nbsp;They&nbsp;are the largest carbon-storing pools, and have the highest rate of sequestration of the different ecosystem types.</p>
<p class="Normal1">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Wetlands, including coastal ones, which comprise only about 9 percent of the land cover in the region studied, account for nearly 13 percent of the region&rsquo;s estimated annual carbon storage. They also have the second-highest rate of sequestration of all ecosystem types. Nutrients and sediments in rivers and streams flowing from terrestrial environments contribute significantly to the storage of carbon in eastern coastal sediments and deep ocean waters.</p>
<p class="Normal1CxSpMiddle">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In contrast, carbon dioxide is emitted from the surface of inland water bodies (rivers, streams, lakes and reservoirs), equal to about 18 percent of the recent annual carbon sequestration rate of terrestrial ecosystems in the East.<strong> </strong></p>
<p class="Normal1">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Agricultural areas cover about 31 percent of the East, and account for only 4 percent of the region&rsquo;s annually sequestered carbon. &nbsp;</p>
<p class="Normal1">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Grasslands and shrublands, as well as other types of land, contained just 1.1 percent or less of the region&rsquo;s carbon.</p>
<p class="Normal1"><strong>Major Findings: Projected Changes in Eastern Carbon by 2050</strong></p>
<p class="Normal1">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The eastern United States is projected to continue to be a carbon sink (absorbs more carbon than it emits) through 2050, increasing the carbon stored by as much as 37 percent. &nbsp;However, the rate of sequestration is projected to slow by up to 20 percent, primarily because of decreases in the amount of forest cover.</p>
<p class="Normal1">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Land use is projected to continue to change in the future; landscape changes are projected to be between 17 and 23 percent by 2050 under different scenarios. These changes, primarily the result of demands for forest products, urban development and agriculture, could affect the future potential storage capacity of the region&rsquo;s ecosystems and other lands because future carbon stocks are inextricably linked to land-use practices and changes. &nbsp;</p>
<p class="Normal1">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The area projected to experience the most change &ndash; about 30 percent -- is the southeastern United States, primarily because of conversion of land from forests to agricultural and urban land.</p>
<p class="Normal1CxSpLast">&#9679;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; By 2050, coastal carbon storage could increase by 18 to 56 percent.&nbsp; Land-use changes could increase nutrient and sediment flow from urban and agricultural lands (which presents a separate challenge), but this would also increase the amount of carbon stored in coastal areas.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</p>
<p>For more information on the assessment, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1804/" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Watch a short video on the assessment <a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/816#.U6svMfmzHB4">HERE</a>.<br /><br />Visit the web tool&nbsp;<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/climate_landuse/land_carbon/Data.asp" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Watch a tutorial on how to use the web tool <a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/815#.U6svMfmzHB4">HERE</a>.<br /><br />Read some&nbsp;<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/faq/taxonomy/term/10491" target="_blank">FAQs</a>&nbsp;on the Eastern Carbon Report</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=fQdWTbTOmdc:NHjI2Api4cw:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=fQdWTbTOmdc:NHjI2Api4cw:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?a=fQdWTbTOmdc:NHjI2Api4cw:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/newsWV?i=fQdWTbTOmdc:NHjI2Api4cw:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/fQdWTbTOmdc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 25 Jun 2014 16:33:54 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3926&from=rssPRcoral reef CoralReef hazard RiskReduction
SeaLevelRise storms Nature ClimateChange coast wave
NaturalHazardshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/uVpYPZgkEmc/article.asp
stateALstateAKstateAZstateARstateASstateCAstateCOstateCTstateDEstateDCstateFLstateGAstateGUstateHIstateIDstateILstateINstateIAstateKSstateKYstateLAstateMEstateMDstateMAstateMIstateMNstateMSstateMOstateMTstateNEstateNVstateNHstateNJstateNMstateNYstateNCstateNDstateOHstateOKstateORstatePAstatePRstateRIstateSCstateSDstateTNstateTXstateUTstateVTstateVIstateVAstateWAstateWVstateWIstateWYstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong>
ARLINGTON, Va &mdash; Stronger storms, rising seas, and flooding are placing hundreds of millions people at risk around the world, and big part of the solution to decrease those risks is just off shore. A new study finds that coral reefs reduce the wave energy that would otherwise impact coastlines by 97 percent.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>New study shows that coral reefs provide risk reduction benefits to hundreds of millions of coastal inhabitants around the world</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:srodriguez@tnc.org">Sandra&nbsp;L. Rodriguez, TNC</a>
( Phone: 703-841-4227
);
<a href="mailto:lgordon@usgs.gov">Leslie &nbsp;Gordon, USGS</a>
( Phone: 650-329-4006
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><div class="WordSection1">
<p>ARLINGTON, Va &mdash; Stronger storms, rising seas, and flooding are placing hundreds of millions people at risk around the world, and big part of the solution to decrease those risks is just off shore. A new study finds that coral reefs reduce the wave energy that would otherwise impact coastlines by 97 percent.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Coral reefs serve as an effective first line of defense to incoming waves, storms and rising seas,&rdquo; said <a href="http://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/pressreleases/media/mike-beck-conservancy-scientist-bio.xml">Dr. Michael Beck</a>, lead marine scientist of <a href="http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/habitats/oceanscoasts/index.htm">The Nature Conservancy</a> and a co-author of the study, &ldquo;200 million people across more than 80 nations are at risk if coral reefs are not protected and restored.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Published today in the journal &ldquo;<a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/index.html">Nature Communications</a><em>,</em>&rdquo; this study by an international team of researchers from the University of Bologna, The Nature Conservancy, U. S. Geological Survey, Stanford University and University of California &ndash; Santa Cruz, provides the first global synthesis of the contributions of coral reefs to risk reduction and adaptation across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This study illustrates that the restoration and conservation of coral reefs is an important and cost effective solution to reduce risks from coastal hazards and climate change,&rdquo; said Dr. Filippo Ferrario, lead author from the University of Bologna.</p>
<p>Key results from the study:</p>
<p>- Coral reefs provide substantial protection against natural hazards by <strong>reducing wave energy by an average of 97 percent</strong> (studies across all tropical oceans).</p>
<p>- The reef crest, or shallowest part of the reef where the waves break first, <strong>dissipates 86 percent of wave energy </strong>on its own.</p>
<p>- The median cost for building artificial breakwaters is USD $19,791 per meter, compared to $1,290 per meter for coral reef restoration projects.</p>
<p>"Coral reefs are wonderful natural features that, when healthy, can provide comparable wave reduction benefits to many artificial coastal defenses and adapt to sea-level rise&rdquo;&nbsp;said Dr. Curt Storlazzi a co-author from USGS. &ldquo;This research shows that coral reef restoration can be a cost-effective way to decrease the hazards coastal communities face due to the combination of storms and sea-level rise."&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;While there are many concerns about the future of corals reefs in the face of climate change,&rdquo; Dr. <a href="http://www.pewenvironment.org/research-programs/marine-fellow/id/8589941662">Fiorenza Micheli</a> of Stanford University said, &ldquo;there are still many reasons for optimism about the future of coral reefs particularly if we manage other local stressors such as pollution and development.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The study found that there are 197 million people worldwide who can receive risk reduction benefits from coral reefs alone or may have to bear higher costs of disasters if the reefs are degraded. These are people in villages, towns, and cities who live in low, risk prone coastal areas (below 10m elevation) and within 50 km of coral reefs.</p>
<p>Conservation efforts are most often directed to more remote reefs, however the study suggests there should also be a focus on reefs closer to the people who will directly benefit from reef restoration and management. In terms of number of people who receive risk reduction benefits from coral reefs, the top 15 countries include:</p>
</div>
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" width="712" align="left">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="322" valign="top"><span>1. Indonesia, 41 million<br /> 2. India, 36 million<br /> 3. Philippines, 23 million<br /> 4. China, 16 million<br /> 5. Vietnam, 9 million<br /> 6. Brazil, 8 million<br /> 7. United States, 7 million<br /> 8. Malaysia, 5 million </span></td>
<td width="368"><span style="padding-top: -5px;">9. Sri Lanka, 4 million<br /> 10. Taiwan, 3 million<br /> 11. Singapore, 3 million<br /> 12. Cuba, 3 million<br /> 13. Hong Kong, 2 million<br /> 14. Tanzania, 2 million<br /> 15. Saudi Arabia, 2 million </span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Additionally, major investments are being made in artificial defense structures such as seawalls for coastal hazard mitigation and climate adaptation. The study shows that the restoration of coral reefs for coastal defense may be as low as 1/10 the cost of building artificial breakwaters. Reef defenses can be enhanced in a cost-effective manner through restoration, a key factor in protecting small island nations and regions with limited fiscal resources.</p>
<p>Drs. Beck and Micheli were supported in this work by <a href="http://www.pewmarinefellows.org">Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation</a>, an effort that has awarded 135 fellowships to individuals from 31 countries for projects to address conservation challenges facing our oceans.</p>
<p>&nbsp;<br /> <strong>The Nature Conservancy</strong> is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. &nbsp;To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have helped protect 130 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at <a href="http://www.nature.org/">http://www.nature.org/</a>.</p>
<p><strong>The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation</strong> awards recipients US $150,000 for a three-year project to address conservation challenges facing our oceans. The program has awarded 135 fellowships to individuals from 31 countries. The program is managed by The Pew Charitable Trusts in Washington, D.C. <a href="http://www.PewMarineFellows.org">www.PewMarineFellows.org</a></p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/uVpYPZgkEmc" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 13 May 2014 12:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3887&from=rssPRCoreScienceSystemsNationalGeospatial topographicMap TopoMaps digitalTopographicMap DigitalTopoMaps HistoricalTopographicMapCollection TopographicMaps USTopo WestVirginia NewJersey georgia mappingHawaii puertoRico Alaska AlaskaMaps railroads GeoPDFhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~3/5oYqLdwJMw4/article.asp
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<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->US Topo maps now have a crisper, cleaner design - enhancing readability of maps for online and printed use
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<h3><em>Newly designed US Topo maps covering West Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia are now available online for free download</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:mnewell@usgs.gov">Mark&nbsp;Newell, APR</a>
( Phone: 573-308-3850
);
<a href="mailto:lrdavis@usgs.gov">Bob&nbsp;Davis</a>
( Phone: 573-308-3554
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><!--introstart--><a href="http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/index.html">US Topo maps</a> now have a crisper, cleaner design - enhancing readability of maps for online and printed use.<!--introend--> Map symbols are easier to read over the digital aerial photograph layer whether the imagery is turned on or off. Improvements to symbol definitions (color, line thickness, line symbols, area fills), layer order, and annotation fonts are additional features of this supplemental release. Users can now adjust the transparency for some features and layers to increase visibility of multiple competing layers.</p>
<p>This new design was launched earlier this year and is now part of the new US Topo quadrangles for West Virginia (418 maps), New Jersey (150) and Georgia (952 maps), replacing the first edition US Topo maps for those states.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Users in West Virginia will appreciate improvements in the US Topo product, including the availability of improved contours, Forest Service trails, and vegetation cover (green tint),&rdquo; said Craig Neidig, USGS Geospatial Liaison for West Virginia. &ldquo;The product should find an audience among the many recreational users and outdoor enthusiasts in West Virginia, especially with the capability to use the US Topo maps on mobile devices. &nbsp;We look forward to the addition of layers including mining&nbsp;sites, wetlands, and more historic features that users were accustomed to seeing on the old topographic quadrangles for the Mountain State.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>US Topo maps are updated <a href="http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/about.html">every three years</a>. The initial round of the 48 conterminous states coverage was <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3402">completed in September of 2012</a>.&nbsp; Hawaii and Puerto Rico maps have recently been added. More than 400 <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3681">new US Topo maps for Alaska</a> have been added to the <a href="http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/(ctype=areaDetails&amp;xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&amp;carea=%24ROOT&amp;layout=6_1_61_48&amp;uiarea=2)/.do">USGS Map Locator &amp; Downloader</a>, but will take several years to complete.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Re-design enhancements and new features:</p>
<ul>
<li>Crisper, cleaner design improves online and printed readability while retaining the look and feel of traditional USGS topographic maps</li>
<li>New functional road classification schema has been applied</li>
<li>A slight screening (transparency) has been applied to some features to enhance visibility of multiple competing layers</li>
<li>Updated free fonts that support diacritics</li>
<li>New PDF Legend attachment</li>
<li>Metadata formatted to support multiple browsers</li>
<li>New shaded relief layer for enhanced view of the terrain</li>
<li>Military installation boundaries, post offices and cemeteries</li>
<li>Starting with Georgia, the railroad dataset is much more complete from a new contractor</li>
</ul>
<p>To enjoy earlier legacy quads for West Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia, go to the USGS <a href="http://nationalmap.gov/historical/index.html">Historical Topographic Map Collection</a>. These scanned images of paper maps up through 2006 are also available for free download from <a href="http://nationalmap.gov/"><em>The National Map</em></a> and the USGS Map Locator &amp; Downloader <a href="http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/(ctype=areaDetails&amp;xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&amp;carea=%24ROOT&amp;layout=6_1_61_48&amp;uiarea=2)/.do">website</a>.</p>
<p>US Topo maps are created from geographic datasets in <em>The National Map,</em> and deliver visible content such as high-resolution aerial photography, which was not available on older paper-based topographic maps. The new US Topo maps provide modern technical advantages that support wider and faster public distribution and on-screen geographic analysis tools for users. The new digital electronic topographic maps are delivered in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoPDF">GeoPDF</a> image software format and may be viewed using <a href="http://get.adobe.com/reader/">Adobe Reader</a>, available as a no cost download.</p>
<p>For more information, go to: <a href="http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/">http://nationalmap.gov/ustopo/</a></p>
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<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2014_04_24/WV_Cass_253400_1922_62500.jpg"><img src="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2014_04_24/WV_Cass_253400_1922_62500_tn.jpg" alt="caption below" /></a></td>
<td valign="top"><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2014_04_24/WV_Cass_20140220.jpg"><img src="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2014_04_24/WV_Cass_20140220_tn.jpg" alt="caption below" /></a></td>
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<td valign="top"><span class="small">Historical map of the Cass, West Virginia area, 1922. (<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2014_04_24/WV_Cass_253400_1922_62500.jpg">high resolution image</a> 1.8 MB)</span></td>
<td valign="top"><span class="small">US Topo map of the Cass, West Virginia quadrangle, March 2014. (<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2014_04_24/WV_Cass_20140220.jpg">high resolution image</a> 1.2 MB)</span></td>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/newsWV/~4/5oYqLdwJMw4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 24 Apr 2014 9:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=3876&from=rss